Computers

Starting in college, I used to buy a new computer every two years. However, I kept the PC that I built when I returned from Japan in 1999 until the release of Windows Vista. I started catching up on new technology, and since 2005 I had been buying about one machine a year. However, in late 2008 I got involved in distributed computing, so I've been on a computer building spree in 2009, which has also allowed me to try out different PC form factors (micro-ATX, mini-ITX). In 2010 I'm in the midst of reducing the number of machines and selling off or throwing away some older parts. Here are my current machines as of August 2010.

• Kali is a dual-processor workstation that's going to be my new primary PC. I'm still working on the hardware configuration and waiting for the Mountain Mods case to arrive.
  
  
• Bhairavi is a really small multimedia workstation using a barebones Shuttle XPC. I assembled it in August 2009. The onboard graphics work fine, but it's big enough to use a full-size graphics card as well. It's my secondary or backup desktop PC.
  
  
• Bhavani is a dedicated gaming machine that I finished in April 2009, after waiting a little for the Qmicra Qv2E case to arrive. I wanted a "smaller" micro-ATX system, and although it's not actually that small, I like the different form factor. I also like being able to game without worrying about all the junk I have running on my normal desktop. I also use it when working from home, because the widescreen monitor matches the resolution of my work machine.
  
  
• Durga is my Windows Home Server machine built in 2007. I really love WHS, especially for its network backup functionality. It is also my file server, uTorrent server, and provides centralized monitoring for avast! antivirus. As I've asked this machine to do more, I'm starting to reach the limits of the hardware. I expect it to steal some of the hardware from either Gauri or Chandi, maybe around the time WHS "Vail" is released.
  
  
• Lalitha is a home theater PC (HTPC) originally built in 2005, almost completely upgraded in the summer of 2007, and upgraded again in 2010. It's located in the TV stand in the living room, and I added an Ethernet jack to the wall separating it from my office so that it's on the same gigabit network as the rest of my machines.
  
  
• Chandi is a workstation/server I built in June 2009. It's kind of the big sister of Gauri below, with similar purposes but high-end hardware. I finally figured out my stability issues with this box, which are unfortunately caused by a bad motherboard. I'm going to try to RMA it soon.
  
  
• Gauri was built in January 2009 so that I could have a high-powered server to play around with, and it's also used for distributed computing projects, which is why I added a bunch of graphics cards for GPU processing power (a.k.a. running Folding@home). Thanks largely to this box, I got 12 million F@H points in about a year. I think I'm going to sell off the GPUs in this box, though, as SMP folding seems to be the preferred option these days.
  
  
• Shyama is very tiny HTPC built in September 2009. It has Blu-ray and a HDTV dual tuner, so it works as full-fledged media PC. Unfortunately the fans are rather loud, but I still use it as a bedroom PC for streaming media.
  
  
• Uma is my Dell laptop purchased in 2006, mainly for travel. I love being able to take my recorded TV on the road; I watched eight movies on a road trip to Nashville. I bought my parents a wireless router so I can use my laptop when I visit them (which came in handy when they got a Wii for Christmas 2008). I upgraded the laptop to Vista Ultimate and now Windows 7 Home Premium. I keep it sitting next to my couch and use it for surfing while watching TV.
  
  
• Aparna is my mid tower built in early 2007 to replace the aging Shakti as my primary PC. It's used for email, gaming, multimedia, web development, doing my taxes, etc. I downgraded from Vista to XP, mainly because the video and sound drivers were initially horrible for Vista. This machine is showing its age and will be replaced by Kali soon.
  
  

If you're keeping count, yes, that is ten PCs. I use them all regularly, and most of them keep busy with distributed computing projects the rest of the time. For a while every PC had a different flavor of Windows, but I've moved pretty six of them to Windows 7. That leaves one Windows Home Server, one Windows Vista, and two Windows XP.

Two of these computers (Aparna and the current Durga hardware) will be phased out soon, and I already gave another one (Girija) to my parents in exchange for their old PC. I'm still deciding which components to keep, which to sell, and which to throw away. I also have a few older computers that are still hanging around, but their days are also numbered.

• Shakti was a Pentium III gaming powerhouse that I built when I returned from Japan in 1999. I had missed out on a lot of 3D gaming while stuck with a laptop, and I was anxious to get back into the scene. It is finally retired and usually turned off, but it still serves as my SCSI testbed for some of the old hardware I have sitting around. Shakti is now in a case identical to Amba's, and the old tower case was used for Gauri.
  
  
• Amba is one of two identical Pentium II machines I picked up at the same gov't sale where I bought Durga. It came with a 400 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM, 100Mbps Ethernet card, and the same Asus motherboard as Shakti. I scavenged RAM to bump it up to 384MB and bought a 120GB Quantum IDE hard drive to go with a 40GB drive (now dead) that I pulled from Shakti. At first, Amba had tons of storage compared to my SCSI machines so I used it as a file server. Later, so that I could have a standalone PC rather than relying on the KVM switch, I added a 19" Dell LCD monitor and keyboard, a Logitech mouse, and a wireless network card. With all the other PCs have now, I don't have a use for Amba, so it has been phased out.
  
  
• Parvati is the laptop I bought in 1997 to take with me to Japan. Unfortunately I couldn't wait for the PII laptops that were due in a few months, and I was never really satisfied with this machine. Still, it kept me online for most of two years. Now that I have a new laptop, this one is probably headed for the trash bin.
  
  
• Miscellaneous hardware: I have a Linksys wireless router connected to my cable modem, and a D-Link 8-port gigabit switch hooked to that. There's a Netgear 5-port gigabit also in the office (currently unused) and a Netgear 8-port gigabit switch on the other side of the wall behind the TV. A Brother HL-2070N laser printer is on the network for use by all the PCs. For many years I used a Cybex (now Avocent) SwitchView 4-port VGA PS/2 KVM, but I finally upgraded to a StarTech 4-port DVI USB KVM switch (model SV431DVIUA). The KVM is used to connect Durga, Bhairavi, and whatever other PCs I'm working on (currently Bhavani) to the Dell LCD and Amba's old peripherals, since Aparna is hooked to my primary monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I also have lots of APC uninterruptible power supplies to keep everything running smoothly.

Pictures

Here's the lighted version of the picture at the top of the page. This was my desk arrangement for most of 2009. The monitor, keyboard and mouse on the left are hooked to the old KVM under the left speaker. Behind the monitor is Girija, and next to it is the external drive enclosure for Durga. Durga is directly beneath the enclosure under the desk. Aparna is on the right, and the Brother laser printer is just visible in the upper right. My 11-year-old CRT monitor is in the center.

I'm constantly rearranging my computers, but the picture above shows the layout as of May 2010. It's not a very good picture, but I wanted to show the table I bought to extend the desk and serve as a workbench. It also happens to show most of my PCs in one place. From top left to right: Girija, Shyama, Uma, KVM monitor, 8-drive enclosure for Durga, Bhairavi, Aparna's monitor, Aparna. On table shelf: SCSI scanner, Shakti. Under table: Back-UPS RS 1500VA, Amba. Under desk: Smart-UPS 1000XL and battery pack (hidden behind table), Durga, Smart-UPS 1500, Logitech subwoofer.

 

The picture on the left above shows the layout when I first moved into my condo. The only computers are Amba, Shakti, and Aparna. You can also see the laser printer on the desk, which is now on top of the file cabinet. The picture on the right is my setup from my old apartment. From left to right beneath the desk are Shakti, Amba, and Durga (in its old Linux server configuration).

I've posted a lot more computer pictures on my Photobucket account.

Since my computers are on all the time, I decided to have them do something useful (besides run µTorrent, record TV, and receive email). I've started running Folding@home clients on some of my machines. I actually started out using my Playstation 3, but don't fold on it any more. I initially joined the AVS Forum team because they were fairly active (with lots of PS3 users) and it's also a great forum that was helpful when I was buying my plasma TV. I reached #3 on the team but then switched to Free Republic Folders - A Tribute to Ronald Reagan. Now (as of July 18, 2010) I'm folding for the [H]orde in addition to helping the [H]ard|OCP team with other distributed computing projects to increase their DC Vault ranking. You can track my personal stats for all projects at Free-DC.

Links

[H]ard OCP
Ars Technica
The Tech Zone
Slashdot

Newegg.com (the best source for computer parts)
MonoPrice.com (cheap cables)
CrazyPC (great source for heatsinks & fans)
Performance-PCs.com (good source for hard-to-find cables)
Meritline.com (random cheap stuff)
mwave.com
Provantage.com

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